JAN HAMMER GROUP, “OH YEAH?”

The most distinguishing feature of Jan Hammer’s lead synthesizer and electric piano work on this LP may the way he uses melodic contours as rhythmic entities.  The combination of sixteenth-note syncopations in the lead instruments with the irregular background pulses (4-3-3-4, for example) lends the tunes an unpredictable air which heightens the urgency of the persistently driving percussion.  Hammer’s synthesizer work is notable for the expressivity with which he bends notes and introduces vibrato to the tone, and the pervasive use of electric piano riffs and chording leads one to believe that most of the music was written on this instrument. 
For some first rate jazz-rock, nail yourself a hammer. 

 Nemperor (dist. By Atlantic), NE 43